USMC uses 3D printing for mine clearance rocket headcap
3D-printed headcap for the M58 Mine Clearing Line Charge. (Photo: USMC)
Additive manufacturing expands its uses for USMC.
The USMC explored a new application for additive manufacturing with a recent successful test event at the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.
Having worked with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Corona Division, the Program Manager for Ammunition (PM Ammo) at Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) assessed a 3D-printed stainless steel headcap for a rocket motor used to detonate an M58 Mine Clearing Line Charge (MICLIC).
The evaluation involved launching the rocket motor to detonate the mine-clearing line charge.
CWO2 Justin Trejo, a project officer with PM Ammo at MCSC, said: ‘We essentially created a 3D-printed product and incorporated it into a highly explosive system.’
3D printing allows a physical object to be created from a digital design. According to the USMC, it is useful for MICLIC because traditional manufacturing methods for the rocket headcap ‘can be both timely and costly’, so MCSC wanted to identify a more efficient method for producing the part.
More from Defence Notes
-
![Orchestrating operational readiness across every defence domain]()
Orchestrating operational readiness across every defence domain
Are all systems ready for the next mission? Have upgrades been applied? Are all assets aligned to deploy together, on time and fully prepared? In modern defence operations, readiness is no longer measured platform by platform. It is measured by how well people, assets, data and decisions move together — across land, sea and air.
-
![How deepening AI usage can boost efficiency and maximise effects for forces]()
How deepening AI usage can boost efficiency and maximise effects for forces
Saab has outlined how it is using artificial intelligence to make training more like electronic gaming, while the UK’s Power Size Technologies is applying the same technology to better evaluate and design vehicle capability, moving AI-enabled innovation further upstream from the frontline.
-
![From systems integrator to multi-domain solutions provider (video)]()
From systems integrator to multi-domain solutions provider (video)
Philipp von Brandenstein, Head of Corporate Communications at Rheinmetall, explains how Eurosatory 2026 marked a new stage in the company's evolution.
-
![US Pentagon pushes for major reform of defence acquisition system]()
US Pentagon pushes for major reform of defence acquisition system
The US Department of Defense has requested new contracting authorities from Congress, using the Army's MV-75 Cheyenne programme to demonstrate how competition, digital engineering and closer industry collaboration could accelerate acquisitions.
